Raspberry Pi Photo Frame

Using a Raspberry Pi as photo frame with a nice Web UI

Installation

I've prefered to use Ubuntu Server as base instead of a complete Lubuntu desktop but it should work if you're using Lubuntu desktop instead.

Here is the Raspberry Pi image I've used:

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/releases/18.04.5/release/ubuntu-18.04.5-preinstalled-server-armhf+raspi3.img.xz

You can try with other available images from here.

Flash it on your sdcard with the tool you prefer and plug it into your Raspberry Pi.

I won't explain how to setup the network on your Raspberry Pi.

Once you've configured your network access, run the following commands to install the desktop base:

# Update everything
sudo apt update --fix-missing -y && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove --purge -y

# Install git and nodejs
sudo apt install git nodejs

# Install Lubuntu core
sudo apt install lubuntu-core

# Install chromium (optional -- if using electronjs)
sudo apt install chromium-browser chromium-browser-l10n

# Reboot to apply changes
sudo reboot

Download NoMachine to control remotely the Raspberry Pi from here and copy the .deb package with scp:

# Copy the package
scp nomachine_6.11.2_1_armhf.deb ubuntu@your-pi-host:~/

# Connect to the host
ssh ubuntu@your-pi-host

# Install the package
sudo dpkg -i nomachine_6.11.2_1_armhf.deb

This package is for the ARMv7 version.

Increase RAM

The default RAM size is not enough to run the project smoothly, so you need to increase the available memory size with Zram.

Create the loading script:

sudo nano /usr/bin/zram.sh

And place this content:

#!/bin/bash

echo -e "\nExpanding available memory with zRAM...\n"
cores=$(nproc --all)
modprobe zram num_devices=$cores
modprobe zstd
modprobe lz4hc_compress

swapoff -a

totalmem=`free | grep -e "^Mem:" | awk '{print $2}'`
#mem=$(( ($totalmem / $cores)* 1024 ))
mem=$(( ($totalmem * 4 / 3 / $cores)* 1024 ))

core=0
while [ $core -lt $cores ]; do
    echo zstd > /sys/block/zram$core/comp_algorithm 2>/dev/null ||
    echo lz4hc > /sys/block/zram$core/comp_algorithm 2>/dev/null ||
    echo lz4 > /sys/block/zram$core/comp_algorithm 2>/dev/null
    echo $mem > /sys/block/zram$core/disksize
    mkswap /dev/zram$core
    swapon -p 5 /dev/zram$core
    let core=core+1
done

The zstd compression algorithm has been used for better performance results.

It might not be supported on all systems, that's why I've added some other compression algorithms.

Then save it with [Ctrl+O] and [Ctrl+X].

Make it executable:

sudo chmod -v +x /usr/bin/zram.sh

Then create the boot script:

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

And place this content:

#!/bin/bash

/usr/bin/zram.sh &

exit 0

Then save it with [Ctrl+O] and [Ctrl+X].

Make it executable:

sudo chmod -v +x /etc/rc.local

To finish, run the script to create the additional memory. To see the available memory and the compression stats, run the following commands:

# Manual start
sudo /usr/bin/zram.sh

# Show memory compression stats
zramctl

# Show available memory
free -mlht

Clone the project

git clone https://github.com/Jiab77/raspberry-pi-photo-frame.git

Install dependencies

# Install nodejs
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Install npm
sudo apt install -y npm

# Install nodejs dependencies
cd raspberry-pi-photo-frame
npm install

For other platforms, please go to https://github.com/nodesource/distributions/blob/master/README.md#table-of-contents.

Settings

You can change the project settings according to your needs.

Demo

By default it will display pictures from Lorem Picsum.

Edit the file slideshow.js to the following settings:

// Demo settings
var loadDemo = true;
var demoDuration = 60000;
var infiniteDemo = true;

Effects:

• loadDemo: (true|false) - Enable / disable the demo mode
• demoDuration: (duration in milliseconds) - Change the demo duration
• infiniteDemo: (true|false) - Make the demo infinite or not

Slideshow

By default the slideshow is now infinite instead of stopping when all pictures are displayed.

Edit the file slideshow.js to the following settings:

// Slideshow settings
var imagesPath = '/images';
var infiniteSlideshow = true;
var slideshowAnimationEnter = 'fade in';
var slideshowAnimationLeave = 'fade out';
var slideshowPauseDuration = 8000;
var animationDuration = 800;
var animationLoadingTime = 800;

Effects:

• imagesPath: (/images) - Define the path to folder that contains pictures to display
• infiniteSlideshow: (true|false) - Make the slideshow infinite or stop when all pictures are displayed
• slideshowAnimationEnter: (fade in) - Picture display animation
• slideshowAnimationLeave: (fade out) - Picture hide animation
• slideshowPauseDuration: (duration in milliseconds) - Waiting time duration before changing picture
• animationDuration: (duration in milliseconds) - Display animation duration
• animationLoadingTime: (duration in milliseconds) - Waiting time duration before running display animation

Add the startup script in desktop autostart

According to the documentation, you simply add a new line in ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart:

# Add new startup line
echo "@${HOME}/raspberry-pi-photo-frame/start.sh" | tee -a ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart

# Verify the result
cat ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart

The path might differ on your side.

Restart to see the result.

To remove from autostart, simply delete or comment the line from ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart:

sed -e 's|@'${HOME}'/raspberry-pi-photo-frame/start.sh|# @'${HOME}'/raspberry-pi-photo-frame/start.sh|' -i ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart

Then restart.

Add your pictures

To add your pictures to the project, simply create the images folder at the root of the project:

# Move to the project folder
cd raspberry-pi-photo-frame

# Create the images folders
mkdir -v images

Now you can copy your pictures inside:

# Move to your local pictures folder
cd ~/Images

# Copy them to your pi host
rsync -aHXhixv --numeric-ids --progress --partial --append-verify --size-only --stats --min-size=1 --prune-empty-dirs -e "ssh -T -c aes128-gcm@openssh.com -o Compression=no -x" ~/Images/* ubuntu@your-pi-host:~/raspberry-pi-photo-frame/images/

This command will preserve date and time attributes.

Once done, make sure that the demo mode is disabled. You can now refresh your current window or re-run the starting script. 🎉

Update the code

If you want to get the latest version, here is the simpliest way to do so:

# Stop the current browser instance
killall -KILL chromium-browser

# Move to the project folder
cd raspberry-pi-photo-frame

# Cancel your local changes
git checkout *

# Get the latest version
git pull

# Disable demo mode
sed -e 's/loadDemo = true/loadDemo = false/' -i slideshow.js

# Restart the slideshow
~/start.sh

Preview

Development

The web server used is based on NodeJS and you can read the documentation here.

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/Jiab77/raspberry-pi-photo-frame.git

# Move to the project folder
cd raspberry-pi-photo-frame

# Start the server
node server/server.js

Simply hit [Ctrl + C] to stop it.